


Burn You Down

by veinmichael (AvannahSay)



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Angst, Calum has a baby, Criminal wise kinda, Criminal!Calum, Fluff and Angst, He's also "Uncle Mickey Mouse", Kid Fic, Lilah is like 3, Luke is a lil waiter, M/M, Michael and Calum are in Kahoots, Single Dad Calum, michael is a bartender
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 19:13:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4576443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvannahSay/pseuds/veinmichael
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Calum only wants the best for his baby. And when times are tough, he has to do his worst. But after fucking up, he's made his great escape to start a new life in America. But when he stumbles across Luke, the Australian UNI boy, things get more complicated than ever.</p><p>Or Calum is a criminal with a baby and Luke is as smitten as a kitten.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burn You Down

**Author's Note:**

> Wow okay first 5sos fic. Be gentle with me. Feedback is welcome.

It all started when she was a baby. Well, slightly before then, if you count the spray painting adventures. When Lilah was hungry, and Calum and his girlfriend were broke, he resorted to the worst. He broke into the house down the street, stole the Rolex watch he always saw the businessman wear. Along with a few hundreds he found in the drawer, couple rings, a gold cross on a chain, and a credit card. He pawned them all off, used the credit card for a few things before it was canceled. Then he got rid of it. He fed Lilah, he paid the rent, things were okay.   
  
Then it happened again. Calums mom had gotten sick, and Lilah was always crying. Considering both of her parents worked day jobs, and she was left with relatives, or Calum's asshole drunk friends who paid no attention to her, it made sense. Cal just wanted to get a proper sitter, take a day off without risking homelessness to be with his daughter. So, he hit a townhouse. He took jewels, gold, and silver. Precious memories and game devices. But this time, the consequences were real.

When Calum returned home to his girlfriend and their baby, dollars from the pawn shop in his hands claiming it was "work bonus", she didn't believe him. She screamed, she punched Calum in the jaw, and Calum screamed back. She threatened to call the police, to take away Lilah and Calum panicked. Lilah was screaming, his girlfriend picked up the phone, and Calum lost it. 

He cried and he begged for a second chance, but nothing came his way. So he stopped her. 

That day Calum took away any chances he ever had of being forgiven. And he took Lilah out of the hell he created. 

Calum was originally in New Zealand, but after he packed his bags, he went to Australia. He tried to make things better for Lilah, even if that meant the worst for him. 

When he couldn't get a job right away, he got purses instead. He provided for himself and Lilah the best way he could. When he got a job again, things were alright, he worked at night to see Lilah in the day, and he made friends. A friend. His friend was Michael Clifford, the impulsive yet relaxed boy who worked at the bar nearby. He was good for a few things. He was good for venting, making cocktails, and digging Calum out of his own grave. And within a year, the two became the best of friends. Michael became Lilah's honorary Uncle, and the problems Calum created seemed to dissipate. 

Calum and Michael were friends, Lilah grew up and had her second and third birthday in Sydney. Calum still picked up on old habits when ends were tight, but he was clean with it. Always. He just wanted to give Lilah food and love and attention, and he was willing to get it anyway possible. But all that went to shit when Calum got laid off. 

He had lived off of all money he had, before he decided at 1 am when the power went out in the house and the bills piled up that he needed money. For Lilah. With shaky hands, he dug into his underwear drawer, into the box of stolen and unsold goods, and pulled out the handgun. If he was getting money, he was getting a lot. Houses didn't have enough for what he had to pay for, and he needed to amp himself up. 

And he failed. 

When Calum ran out of the back alley, backpack stuffed with dollar bills, stacks on stacks of them, he knew he was screwed. He set off an alarm, and he could hear the sirens echoing in the distance. He had to get out of there as soon as he could. 

As soon as Calum got to the car, his hands were trembling as he turned the keys in the ignition. When the engine started up, he floored it. He needed to get Lilah and he needed to get out of there. He was certain someone saw his face, so he was bound to be on the news eventually for the robbery he just committed. 

When Calum got back to the apartment, he barely had time to turn off the car. He grabbed his backpack and dug his keys out, terrified of the handgun in his pocket, and ran up the two flights of stairs into his home. When he opened the door, the house was practically silent. He could still hear the sound of Lilah's white noise playing in her bedroom and be followed it. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he place the handgun on her dresser and knelt down before her in her bed. 

"Baby, Li you need to wake up baby." He whispered. He shook her shoulder and tried not to cry. "Lilah wake up." He said. She barely budged. "Lilah." He said sternly, and her eyes bolted open. Big and brown and just like Calum's. "C'mon baby get up." He said. He picked her out of her bed and dug into her dresser drawer as she sucked her thumb and watched.

"Where you goin' daddy?" She asked sleepily. 

"We have to go away baby." He said, voiced hushed. He set her down and moved into her closet, he pulled out another backpack and began to stuff it with her clothes. 

"Why?" She asked around her thumb. 

"Daddy did something very bad baby."

"'Ust say sowwy Daddy." She said innocently. Calum looked at her, eyes clouding, and pulled her close to his chest, breathed in her baby shampoo as he buried his face in her short black hair. 

"I wish baby." He kissed the crown of her head and stood up, grabbing the gun off her dresser and moving towards his room, Lilah dawdled behind. He pulled clothes out of his drawers and threw them on the bed and Lilah sat in the doorway watching. He looked over his shoulder at her a few times, but each time he wanted to cry. He pulled out his phone and dialed Michael's number and prayed with all of his beliefs that Michael would pick up. 

"Why are you calling me at-"

"I'm in trouble." Calum rushed. "I don't have much time I need to get out of here." He could hear Michael shuffling on the other line. 

"The fuck happened?"

"I'll tell you later. I need a ride. Please I need to get Li out of here I can't leave her." 

"Cal-"

"Please. Im fucking scared." Calum listened on as Michael went quiet and exhaled in relief as soon as he heard the jingle of Michael's keys.

"Will you be ready in 15 minutes?"

"Yes. Please just hurry." And like that Calum hung up. When Calum set down the phone he looked at Lilah and she looked back at him. "Come here baby girl." He sighed. Lilah arose to her feet and pattered across the floor and sat in Calum's lap. "You need to pick out your favorite three toys okay? Show me how many three is baby." Lilah held up three fingers. "That's my good girl. Go on, Uncle Mickey Mouse is gonna be hear soon, so hurry up baby." Calum watched as she stood up and pattered out, tripping slightly over her own two feet, but only stumbling. Calum needed to get out, and he needed it fast.

* * *

 

Michael kept a tight grip on the steering wheel as he watched Calum in the rearview. He was trying to get Lilah to go back to sleep. She was wrapped up in her daddy's jean jacket, thumb in her mouth, and drifting in and out of consciousness. 

"Cal, I thought you weren't that bad." 

"I told you I stole shit in the past."

"I didn't think that meant you would rob a jewelry store." Calum swallowed the lump in his throat and tried not to cry. 

"I didn't have a choice anymore Michael." Michael didn't revert back to it.

"Do you have enough for a plane ticket?"

"It was 10 grand Michael."

"Is that enough though?" Michael asked, anyone could tell the green eyed boy was stressed out, he was helping a criminal with his get away after all. 

"It's enough. We'll live. It's... I'll be okay." 

"Do you need any money?"

"I got the safe and the registers Michael. I'll be fine, for God sakes stop talking about it." Michael kept looking back at Calum through the mirror and then brought his eyes back to the road. 

"Where you gonna go?"

"New York."

"Why?"

"Nobody will recognize me." Calum brushed his fingers over Lilah's hair and tried to remain calm. "I need you to send some things back though. Like when I get a place I'll need you to send her stuff over. She'll miss it and-"

"I got her." Michael promised. As they approached the airport Calum's heart rate spiked and Michael's hands got sweatier on the wheel. "You got my number?"

"Yeah."

"And my address?"

"Yes Michael." Michael turned the keys and shut the car off, hopped out of the drivers seat and Calum got out of the back. The two pulled out Calum's duffle bag, and Calum's backpack. Calum held onto Lilah and Michael looked at the two of them with empty eyes as he closed the car doors and the hatch. 

"Can I?" Michael asked, and Calum handed Lilah over instantly. "Hey you." He said chirpily. "How's my little princess?"

"Sweepy." She mumbled. Michael smiled, pressed a kiss to her head, and hugged her. 

"You gotta go away now, but I'll see you again one day okay?" 

"Why you weavin?" Lilah asked. Michael looked up at Calum. As soon as he saw Calum's eyes were already wet he started to falter. 

"I'm not leaving silly you are. But I'll miss you." Lilah pouted.

"Don't go Mickey."

"I gotta Little Lilah."

"Mickey no!" Calum sniffled and reached out for Lilah before he could let her cry all over Michael. Michael choked back a half sob as soon as Calum pulled him into a hug. 

"I'm sorry."

"You're such a fuck up Jesus Christ." Michael laughed. "God you're killing me here." Calum smiled and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "You touch another fucking jeweler-"

"Shut up." Michael pulled him into another hug. 

"Please be safe."

"I will." 

"Promise?"

"I promise." Calum said softly. Michael nodded and grabbed Lilah's head to kiss it for the last time. 

"Leave me then asshole." Calum grabbed the duffle having already put Lilah's backpack on her and his backpack on himself. And he carried the crying Lilah away from her one and only Uncle. When Michael got back in the car, he pressed his hands over his eyes and let out a sob. Even though it was 2 years, it was still the majority of Lilah's life he had known her and seen her nearly ever day since he and Calum became friends. He hadn't lost friend, he lost family. And as Calum walked into the airport he tried not to sob over the same feelings too.

* * *

  
The airport is fine, that's not the problem. The problem was the world looked at him like a psycho when he bought the plane tickets in cash and how he kept his head down and wore a beanie and sunglasses nearly the whole time he was there. Lilah was exhausted through the security and the security had no sympathy for her, even though everyone else in the airport thought she was "the cutest little thing." Calum sat and waited for 1 hour an a half before the plane finally arrived and everything felt like it was 12 hours. He sat with Lilah, rocked back and forth to get her and keep her asleep, but his brain went a mile a minute. Surprisingly, nobody noticed or even suspected. They just figured he was a teenage dad who only got paid in cash, not a 20 something year old criminal. Which however good on his part, was also quite nerve racking. 

The plane ride is fine until Lilah wakes up. She's slept for a while on Calum's chest, but now she's bored. Calum has thankfully packed coloring books, and the plane has wifi, so it's not too bad to watch Elmo with her in his phone, but it is bad when she wants to move around. Calum takes her to the bathroom a few times, and he has her nap again, but she's still bored. Granted the near day long ride is a task. When they stop in London, Calum buys her McDonald's and has her walk around a lot so she gets tired again, but it kills his energy more than it kills hers. She sleeps with him on the plane though, and colors, and watches Mickey Mouse and to Calums advantage, Ninja turtles. But it all comes to and end when they land and Calum already feels home sick when they touch the ground. 

As soon as Calum leaves the airport, he's overwhelmed. Lilah is on his hip, shyly sucking her thumb, and Calum gets jostled by the passerbys who keep cussing at him for not moving. He's got the dead weight of a duffle on his shoulder, and a heavy little Lilah plus his backpack, but he starts towards the hotel. He managed to look it up in London, and it's not too far from the airport, walking distance really, and the best price he could find until he sorts himself out. He knows he needs a place, and a job, he knows he could pick a few bucks up from his usual antics if he's ever in trouble, but right now his main focus is getting Lilah to a safe place. And when he does, he'll think about the other options.

* * *

 

Calum hasn't left the hotel in 3 days, he's got Lilah at his feet as he lays in the bed. She's clutching her prized kitten stuffy, and she's watching Elmo move stupidly in front of her on the crap TV in their room. He's thankful the hotel has free wifi, and he's been applying for jobs and looking for apartments all day. He's yet to see himself on any posters, so he figures that's a plus. But he looked up the jewelers he tapped into, and a picture of him in his Beanie pops up in a very grainy photo captured by the security camera. They don't know precisely it's him, but they know the kind of car he drives, drove, and it says to keep a look out. Calum's stomach dropped when he saw it, and he told Lilah they weren't going out for a while. He regrets that now, considering he can only watch so many hours of Elmo and Cyber Chase. 

"Li?" She turns instantly at the sound of her own name. "Come here babe." And she does, crawling across the sheets and curling into Calum's side. "I'm sorry I took you out of home."

"When we go backs?" She asks innocently. Calum exhales, pulls her closer, breathes in his baby girl. 

"Not for a long time baby. Daddy messed up."

"It's okay daddy."

"It's not baby." He whispers. "It's never gonna be okay now." Lilah doesn't say a word, just stays tucked into Calum's side and lays in silence with him as the latest episode of Elmo starts up. "You're bored huh?"

"Uh huh." Calum sits up, taking her up with him and he smooths her black hair back down. It's getting long, and when Calum pulls her fringe back, she looks like pebbles from The Flintstones. 

"There's a park across the street... We could go play on the swings. You love the swings." Lilah perks up at the thought of her favorite pastime. 

"Mickey will be there?" Calum shakes his head. 

"Michael's at home. He'll call soon though." Lilah doesn't comprehend that well, but she knows it means No, he won't be there. She pouts, but she gets up, and Calum follows in suit. The two of them get their shoes on. More or less Calum smushing his feet into Vans and putting on Lilah's little Velcro trainers before he picks her up, and leaves their hotel room. 

The park is quiet, then again it is still pretty early in the morning, and the New Yorkers haven't all emerged from their smog city. Lilah wastes no time however diving head first into adventure, she's always been kinda like that. But at 3, the other kids seemed to pay her no mind, and Calum watched her run after them, acting as if she wasn't being excluded from the group, and he pushed a heavy hearted smile onto his lips whenever she caught whim of him. He watched for a while, before his phone buzzed in his pocket. He retracted it only to see Michael's name flashing across the screen, and he looked away for the few seconds. That's all it took really. 

Lilah had followed the kids back and forth across the playground, but when they ran away from the playground, she wasn't aware they also ran back to the playground. She stood, looking for the taller boys she was racing after over and over again, she she caught sight of a tall blonde boy. He was taller than her daddy, and almost nobody was taller than her daddy. The boy was running, and she had picked up that this wasn't his first time running around the playground. He had on black Nikes and the shorts by the same company to go with it, his forehead beaded with sweat and his snapback kept his hair out of his face. She watched as he moved closer, his earbuds producing a tiny buzz of rock and roll when he got close enough. That was when she decided to stand in his path. The boy tried to swerve, but it was when she followed his swerve did he realize she was a tiny human. A very tiny human, and she was alone. He brought his feet to a halt, removed one earbud and looked down at her. 

"Hello." He said.

"Hi." The jogger stares at her, unable to continue moving in his path.

"Are you lost?"

"No. I'm playin with the other kids." She says. 

"Where are they?" He asks. Lilah shrugs. 

"They ran aways." The jogger kneels down before her. "You sound like my daddy. And Mickey" She says.

"Yeah?"

"Australian." The joggers eyes widen. 

"If you're from Australia, why are you here?"

"Dunno, daddy and I went bye byes. Do you know Mickey?"

"Sweetheart," The blonde boy interrupts. "Where _is_  your daddy?"

"Over there. In the park." Lilah looks over her shoulder.

"C'mon, I'll take you back to him." The blonde boy puts a hand on Lilah's shoulder and guides her back to the crowd of kids and mothers. He asks her name, and she says "Lilah Hood" rather proudly before she catches glimpse of Calum. He looks frantic, walking around the woodchipped playground and he pulls Lilah close to him as soon as he sees her.

"Lilah, you know how I feel about you running off." The blonde boy looked at them and Calum looked back up to give his thanks. "Thank you, for bringing her back. I shouldn't have looked away."

"No trouble mate." Calum's eyes widen and his heart rate picks up at the Australian accent. 

"You're Australian?"

"Was just gonna ask you that." Calum picks Lilah off the ground and swallows thick. "Not everyday you see and Aussie in the states. Especially NY. I'm Luke." Luke stretches out his hand for a shake, but Calum looks at it like its foreign. 

"Cal... It's cal." Calum says hesitantly. He starts to back track his steps away from Luke and Luke's blue eyes almost look a little hurt. 

"Are you alright?."

"I-I gotta go." Calum takes another few steps back, grip tighter on Lilah as he backed away slowly. He resembled a person backing away from a bear or a tiger, filled with fear and trying not to look to knowing. Calum's stomach twisted. He was sure Luke knew. He looked at him in a weird way. He was Australian for fucks sake, he still followed news and stuff there. Right? 

Calum pivoted on the ball of his foot and started a fast paced walk for the hotel. 

"What's wrong daddy?" Lilah asked. 

"Nothing baby. I don't like Luke very much."


End file.
